Red Semi Permanent Hair Dye Range

Red semi-permanent hair dye: cherry red and bright red

Two reds are buyable right now and they sit at opposite ends of the red range. One is deep and cherry-toned, the other is a bright vermilion.

Foxy Red: cherry red hair dye, in stock

Foxy Red is the one people mean when they search for cherry red. It's a deep red with a blue undertone and real weight to it, and that undertone is what stops it going orange as it wears down. It's in stock and ships straight away. On unbleached mid-brown hair it gives you a genuine red shine rather than a full colour change, which is the honest version: no bleach needed if a rich tint is all you're after. On a light base it goes properly saturated.

Hot Red: bright red hair dye, open to pre-order

Hot Red has been relaunched in a new 100ml tube with new photography, formula unchanged. You can pre-order it now and it ships in late October. It's a vermilion, brighter and more orange-leaning than Foxy Red, and it's the closest thing we make to a neon red. It wants a pale base. On dark hair it reads as a warm auburn glow rather than the bright red on the tube.

Red hair dye on unbleached hair, and what bleach changes

Red is the most forgiving colour in the range on a dark base, because red pigment sits well over the warm tones already in brown hair. That's why cherry red works for people who don't want to bleach. Forgiving isn't the same as bright, though. If you want the colour on the tube, lighten first with one of our hair bleach kits and go on at a pale yellow. And the thing printed on every product page: these dyes will not cover white or grey hair.

How long red hair dye lasts and how it fades

Five to seven washes on unbleached hair, up to about fifteen on pre-lightened hair. Red fades warmer, drifting through copper and then a soft ginger rather than vanishing, which usually makes the grow-out easier to live with than blue or purple. Wash in cool water with a sulphate-free shampoo and keep it out of strong sun. If you want to take Foxy Red deeper towards a mahogany, blend it with a little Violet rather than buying a separate shade.

If red isn't the direction, the pink semi-permanent hair dye range is its closest neighbour, with the purple hair dye range a step further round. Everything we currently stock is in the full semi-permanent hair dye range, every one of those dyes is vegan, and if you need to lighten first, start with the hair bleach range.